


Feelings and Kisses

by stagprince



Series: Parallelism [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Different takes on the same prompt, M/M, One-Shot, kisses!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-16
Updated: 2012-02-16
Packaged: 2017-10-31 07:04:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/341271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stagprince/pseuds/stagprince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>... in which there is kissing (and biting of lips), a lot of bantering (talky boys talking!) and Dave being a chill, suave coolkid in the face of Egbert's frankly spontaneous decisions (because hey, he's got a reputation to uphold here.)</p><p>Or: the one that is part of an experiment in different writing styles. Two stories with the same premise and the same events. Two very different results!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Feelings and Kisses

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of an experiment that the two of us decided to undertake! We both wrote a one-shot from the same premise and compared the results. The prompt was: "John/Dave; where the two of them tickle-fight until they fall of the sofa and end up sprawled on the ground, John straddling Dave. John kisses Dave; Dave reacts; and then they kiss some more." We thought it was pretty interesting how differently our pieces came out ;)
> 
> This is hC's version!
> 
> Tav's version is [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/341270)!

 

“Woah, whoops, sorry dude!” John pulls back, head turned to the side as he looks for where Dave’s shades had hit the ground a mere moment before the two of them slipped off the edge of the sofa and piled onto the linoleum themselves. He can’t resist sneaking a glance at Dave’s eyes, though; he’s squinting at the sudden light, but the red rims are still visible through his lids, and John can’t deny even to himself that he’s intrigued.

Dave shoves at his legs, where John’s straddling him, and gropes blindly in that general direction. “Jesus Christ, Egbert, way to blind a guy,” he huffs, and John notices with a thrill of amused success that he’s still a little breathless from his (muted) laughter just moments ago. One of his hands is still clenched like a clamp around John’s wrist, holding it away from his ticklish sides, but their momentary fall has loosened the grip and he’s able to pull away.

“It’s just sunlight, dude,” John snickers. “I mean, I know you live in your cave and never come out during the day, but it might do you some good! Get your daily dose of Vitamin C or something.”

“It’s Vitamin _D_ , dude,” Dave bounces straight back. “Good to see I’m getting health and lifestyle advice from someone who really knows their stuff. It’s a real comfort to the missus back home, y’know? _Yeah that’s right, darlin’, that nutritionist I payed for is gonna get you and the lil’ tykes into tip-top fighting condition for the school festival_ and all that shit.”

“Oh my god, seriously, dude, shut up!” John says in exasperation, throwing up his hands. “Besides, you’re too much of a cheapskate to ever hire a nutritionist. I’m gonna say it again – living off seventeen-cents-per-packet ramen is not a balanced diet!”

“So says the guy who thinks that pastries are the devil’s work and actually eats all his greens. Are you from one of those brochures you find in the doctor’s office or something? Because I gotta tell you, you may be my best bro but if you’re really here to take over the world and implant your strange leafy plants as a viable eating choice, we are gonna have to strife.”

“Oooh, mister Strider, ooooh,” John teases, seeing the flash of amusement in Dave’s eyes and mentally fist-pumping, “I’m simply _trembling_ in my seat; this is absolutely the most terrifying thing I can think of.”

“Not gonna lie, bro, the most terrifying thing I can think of probably includes puppets and bagpipes and tentacles. Seriously can you imagine what kind of fucked-up situation would have all of those in it,” Dave says; and as he’s talking he stretches back and crosses his arms behind his head all faux-casual. His eyes have finally adjusted to the light, and his irises gleam a dark red, flecked through with shards of cherry – set against his near-translucent skin and faint freckles and pale as fuck hair, they stand out and bleach the rest of him further; and his lips are pastel where they’re twisted up into a crooked smirk. Dave-code for _amused as fuck and enjoying it_. There’s even a hint of teeth, and John notices Dave’s pulse fluttering in the base of his throat.

And then he realises he’s been staring down at his friend for at least a minute now and straddling him for even longer than that and _wow gosh okay that was a little strange_ , best bros didn’t usually do that, right?

“Soo,” Dave drawls, letting his Texan accent through a little more, and John’s already chuckling sheepishly and scratching at the tip of his nose awkwardly. “Enjoying the view? You’re one of the lucky ones – usually just catching a glimpse of a Strider is a couple hundred worship sessions and prayers finally being answered. That there, bro, was the once-over – sorta, anyway, as much as you can while you’re still all up and over his hot bod’ – and you never even genuflected. Damn, boy.”

“You just never stop talking, do you!” John retorts automatically, but he’s still drawn towards Dave’s eyes. It’s still such a rare sight, even after all these eyes; and here’s Dave literally spread out and letting him see them (admittedly most of this is due to his tickling prowess and not because Dave had gone out of his way to make it happen, but regardless he wasn’t complaining! Much, anyway.)

And then he leans down and kisses him.

Dave jolts below him, obviously startled, and there’s a terrifying moment when his hands come to rest on John’s chest – and John thinks to himself in a moment where he feels far too coherent in the whirlwind that is the world right now _oh Christ, oh man, did I just rui_ – and then they slip round to his shoulder blades and pull him down; and John _melts_ , opening his mouth like he’s seen the movies do it and nipping at Dave’s lips. That elicits another jolt, and a hiss of breath as Dave tilted his head away.

“You bit my lip,” he says incredulously, and John wonders if he’s still allowed to whack him over the head and exclaim _no shit, Sherlock_! in a _durr!_ voice, since he just kissed him and all.

“They do that in movies!” he justifies, hands now awkwardly hovering over Dave’s chest. Where to put them down! Face was too intimate, neck was too heavy, chest was awkwardly close to nipples and nipples were too… uhh, well, sexy, he supposes, but he’s not sure he can think of Dave’s nipples like that! He’s aware that he should probably have thought this stuff through _before_ attacking his friend’s mouth like that, but what was done was done and the path still lead forward! If Abigail Chase hadn’t accepted that Ben Gates’ past was in the past and moved on then they never would have become a loving couple, after all! Of course, that analogy would mean that he and Dave are destined to become a loving couple, but he can’t think about that right now, because Dave is tilting his head back and staring up at him with a quirked eyebrow and – and is that _blood_ on his lips?

“Holy crap, are you okay dude!” John blurts out. Dave visibly represses the urge to roll his eyes and instead levels a flat stare at him.

John’s hands flutter in the air helplessly. “Oh man, oh man, wow, that was my stupid overbite wasn’t it, oh gosh, I’m sorry my teeth are so stupid, wow, that was the worst kiss ever wasn’t it.”

“Sorry dude, but yeah. Ranks pretty low on the kiss-o-meter,” Dave snarks back, tongue darting out to smooth over the cut. It looks superficial, _thank goodness!_ , and John can’t quite bring himself to pull his eyes away from his lips. They’re red, now, after the kiss and the blood, and easily the most prominent feature on his face.

“Wow, sorry du – wait, you have a _kiss-o-meter_?” John snickers. “How many – ”

“Are you seriously asking me that question after you all up and laid one on me?” Dave interrupts, and if John’s listening closely he can hear the incredulity lining his words. And, he realises a second later, if he’s looking closely he can see the tiny flickers of his eyes and the almost imperceptible shaking in his breaking and the way that his fingers are tapping at the ground.

John blinks at him twice, and then forces an awkward chuckle. “Uh, no? I guess?” A beat. “Uhm. Want to. Uh. Kiss again? But like,” he adds hurriedly, “I won’t bite or anything, and I’ll try to keep my teeth out of the way and stuff.”

Dave’s pokerface is rapidly cracking. “ _What_?”

“Or, y’know, if you don’t want to then that’s fine too!” John says quickly, holding his hands up defensively. “I’ll just – ” he starts sitting back, ready to roll off the other guy, but Dave’s hands come to settle on his hips and hold him in place.

“No, just – ” Dave gives a frustrated sigh. “What the fuck was that?”

“A… kiss?”

“Strangely enough, I worked that out on my own,” Dave snaps, and John’s eyes widen a touch as he realises Dave is legitimately invested in his answer. He hesitates for a moment, and then deliberately places a hand down on Dave’s chest as he tries to formulate an answer out of all the chaotic feels and thoughts and concepts strifing it out in his brain.

“Uh,” he begins eloquently, and feels a little better when he sees the glow of amusement in Dave’s eyes before he gives into rolling him. “Hey, shut up, dude! We all know that feels are Karkat’s domain. Or Rose’s.”

“Rose just rips apart your soul and _tells_ you your feels,” Dave mutters belligerently, but he’s still watching John closely.

“Okay, so, uh, that was a kiss obviously, but I don’t, really… know why I kissed you?” he admits, and wonders what that flash of emotion across Dave’s expression was. “Like, I don’t regret it! And like. I’m not gay? But like, I’m not all grossed out by you and I would totally be up for more kisses if you wanted!”

Dave just _stares_ at him for a moment and then lets out a half choked-off bark of strangled laughter. “So you kissed me because you wanted to kiss someone and there are no girls around.”

“What, no!” John denies straight away. “C’mon, dude, gimme more credit than that. At least try it out? I promise I’ll learn how to kiss better!”

Dave rolls his eyes and doesn’t bother replying verbally. Instead he slings one arm over the back of John’s neck and pulls him down to press his lips to his forehead. “Don’t worry about lessons,” he breathes, lips brushing against John’s forehead with every syllable. “I’ll teach you as we go.”

John chuckles, but nods, and proceeds to kiss Dave most thoroughly. (And more than a little sloppily; and in the weeks and months and years to come they’ll get better and better until they look back on this day and mercilessly tease each other over just how terrible they really were at kissing (turns out that kiss-o-meter was _such a filthy lie, Dave, jeez!_ ); but for the time being they think it’s pretty much the best feeling in the world.)


End file.
